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RAM Frequently Asked Questions (Page 3)
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Is it possible to expand the RAM in the new MacBook Pros without replacing the 2 x 1GB sticks of RAM already in them?
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I dont think so. You have to go with 2 x 2GB to get the max.
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Has anybody tried 4GB of RAM in a 2.16/2.33 C2D MBP?
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A couple MacPro's, a MacBook Pro, a PC, and an iPod.
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Originally Posted by jfobart
Has anybody tried 4GB of RAM in a 2.16/2.33 C2D MBP?
You can use ~3.1GB of it.
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Hi,
I've been thinking of switching to Mac since Windows has been giving me so much headache so help me out here since i'm a novice. I'm planning to get the lowest end of 15" MBP and adding more RAM but I don't know how to go about of doing so. Can I add up to 4GB on the 2x1 GB ? Is that the physical slot required for adding RAM that I need to buy?
Is it the hardware or software involved in RAM upgrading? I guess I just don't know what's involved in this whole thing. Thanks in advance.
Debbie
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Buy the MBP with 2x1GB from Apple, buy two 2GB modules from another company ($250ish, compared to Apple asking $750ish for the upgrade ), open the panel on the bottom of the MBP, remove the old RAM, and install the new RAM. You can sell the old RAM modules to a MacBook owner for about $80.
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mduell - quick and good reply
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thanks so much mduell for that speedy response and sorry for not being able to get back quick enough.
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mduell, since the MBP comes w/ 2x1GB already is it possible that I just get 1 more 2x1GB to have a total of 4GB?
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my guess w0ud be n0 - y0u need match set h0pe mdueII repIies - he wiII have the c0rrect answer
AS y0u can teII my keybard has pr0bIems certain keys d0 n0t w0rk = but need internet and can n0t Iet g0 0f PB at present
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Originally Posted by switch
mduell, since the MBP comes w/ 2x1GB already is it possible that I just get 1 more 2x1GB to have a total of 4GB?
No, there are only 2 slots in the MBP; you need to buy 2x2GB.
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hmm..so i have to replace the 2x1RAM that comes w/ the MBP with 2x2GB and there 's just no way i can keep it and add another 2x1GB into the other slot. The sets have to match, is that what it is? Lol the more i ask the more confused i get
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Originally Posted by switch
hmm..so i have to replace the 2x1RAM that comes w/ the MBP with 2x2GB and there 's just no way i can keep it and add another 2x1GB into the other slot. The sets have to match, is that what it is? Lol the more i ask the more confused i get
What other slot? As I just said, there are only 2 slots.
No, the modules do not have to be the same size. You can have 1GB and 2GB if you want.
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You have exactly 2 slots. Those 2 slots are filled with 1GB of ram each.
If you want to go to 4GB, yes you have to replace both sticks of ram with 2GB ram each.
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Gotcha. Thanks skip_intro.
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thanks mduell for putting up w/ me
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mduell, care to give us your opinion on this take?
(
Last edited by wubrew; Jul 19, 2007 at 09:58 PM.
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It's "Brewed" not "Juiced"
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[QUOTE=wubrew;3427192]mduell, care to give us your opinion on this take?
It a 1x2 GB + 1x1 GB deal.Not a 1x3GB stick
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Last edited by wubrew; Jul 19, 2007 at 09:59 PM.
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It's "Brewed" not "Juiced"
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Yea, that's the kit (just like it says) you'd need for upgrading a machine with 2x512MB to 3GB.
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Ok, so I just got a 2.16GHz C2D MBP yesterday. It came stock with a single 1GB stick of RAM. I plan on upgrading. I checked out Crucial and they have a 1GB stick for $55 or a 2GB stick for $130. I'm wondering if it's worth it to spring for the 2GB stick. I don't do any video/photo editing or gaming. I primarily use it for MS Office, web browsing, watching DVDs, iTunes, chatting, light web design, and I mess around with Parallels once in a while. The system is more than fine now with 1GB as far as doing what I need to do and multi tasking. My primary concern is Leopard. I obviously want to be able to run it smoothly. My gut is telling me my system with 1GB would prolly run it well enough (unlike the Vista resource hog issues I've heard about). So what do you think, is it worth the extra $80 to get the 2GB stick or would 2GB total rather than 3GB do well enough for what I run now and potential future use?
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2.3 GHz Intel i5 MacBook Pro
iPhone 4 - 16 GB - Black
8gb iPod Nano
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Just got my 1GB stick of RAM from Crucial. Got it for $55 shipped, arrived in 5 business days, installed in about 20 seconds. Couldn't be happier!
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2.3 GHz Intel i5 MacBook Pro
iPhone 4 - 16 GB - Black
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I was wondering if anyone knew enough specifics with memory concerning latency and speeds of the chips themselves. I have been researching to upgrade a 2.4GHz SR to 4GB. I have seen cheap SO-DIMMs at PC2-5300 and 5400. Is the difference solely in the way a company rounds their numbers or are there actually qualifications for the different numbers?
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Yes, it's a 'rounding' thing; DDR-667 is 5333.333 MBps, so there's some room for ambiguity. IN general, the more reliable/established brands call it 5300 and the 'extreme l33t overclocker' brands call it 5400.
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Originally Posted by mduell
Yes, it's a 'rounding' thing; DDR-667 is 5333.333 MBps, so there's some room for ambiguity. IN general, the more reliable/established brands call it 5300 and the 'extreme l33t overclocker' brands call it 5400.
My accountant and math major friends are cringing over that "rounding thing," and they've never actually seen the 1337 crew's shenanigans.
Originally Posted by twoworads
I have seen cheap SO-DIMMs at PC2-5300 and 5400. Is the difference solely in the way a company rounds their numbers or are there actually qualifications for the different numbers?
As mduell says, it's just rounding. But cheap SO-DIMMs are NOT what you want. Though Intel Macs are less sensitive than the PPC Macs were to RAM timing issues, they still work best with good RAM. "Bob's RAM and Storm Door Company" may save you some money-but they'll get you a lot of headaches too. Stick with well-considered brands. Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, Samsung, and so on are your best bet. You'll pay a little more (not much more if you shop seriously), but you'll have fewer hassles.
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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I got two 1 GB modules that were in my new MacBook Pro. Now have 4 GB.
What to do with it?
Can I put it in an iMac (white model)? Sell it? Who would like to have that? See prices on eBay aren't really worth trying to sell it?
Thanks.
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Originally Posted by Appleman
I got two 1 GB modules that were in my new MacBook Pro. Now have 4 GB.
What to do with it?
Can I put it in an iMac (white model)? Sell it? Who would like to have that? See prices on eBay aren't really worth trying to sell it?
Thanks.
It will work in some white iMacs.
Mac mini and MacBook users are the ones who want it, since their machines max out at 2x1GB. But it's not worth much; I've seen it as low as $45 new (for a good brand), so don't expect to get more than $50 for it.
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Originally Posted by mduell
It will work in some white iMacs.
Mac mini and MacBook users are the ones who want it, since their machines max out at 2x1GB. But it's not worth much; I've seen it as low as $45 new (for a good brand), so don't expect to get more than $50 for it.
Yes indeed, that's what I thought.
Love and a agree totally with your siganture!
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un jour,
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thanks a lot mduell,
i thought my mbp was 2x512
i'm going to order the single 1GB module as you said, i can't afford the 2 gb one now.
again, thanks a lot, this is the third time you help me around
cheers!
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un jour,
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I don't think any MBPs have ever shipped as 2x512MB... only the MB/Mm/iM/MP.
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Originally Posted by mduell
I don't think any MBPs have ever shipped as 2x512MB...
That's correct.
In fact the only MBP to ever come with a 512 MB SO-DIMM was the original low-end CD MBP which came with 512 MB on a single SO-DIMM.
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Certain corporate ordered MBPs did indeed ship with a 2 X 512MB memory configuration. Like mine. It's a special case, but it is possible. I wish I could remember which "major supplier" mine was ordered for me through. It was something like CDW, but I can't really remember.
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According to some pages (and apples tech notes aparently) Core Duo Macbook Pro's are limited to 2GB of ram (2*1GB) vs. 3GB for Core 2 Duo's. I can't really see a reason for this as the chipset should support 3GB just fine.
Has anyone tried? Can you confirm?
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Originally Posted by kamina
According to some pages (and apples tech notes aparently) Core Duo Macbook Pro's are limited to 2GB of ram (2*1GB) vs. 3GB for Core 2 Duo's. I can't really see a reason for this as the chipset should support 3GB just fine.
Has anyone tried? Can you confirm?
A brief history of MacBook Pro memory support:
Core Duo: physically supports 4GB, addressing limited to 3GB, firmware crippled to 2GB
Core 2 Duo (667FSB): physically supports 4GB, addressing limited to 3GB
Core 2 Duo (800FSB): physically supports 4GB
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Originally Posted by mduell
Core Duo: physically supports 4GB, addressing limited to 3GB, firmware crippled to 2GB
Firmware "crippled"? Link to back that up? Or is that simply your daily load of FUD?
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What else would it be then firmware crippled? The chipset supports more and so does the processor.
I can confirm, 1*2GB or 2*1GB works, 1+2GB does not. Really great...
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Originally Posted by mduell
The Intel spec sheet doesn't say jack about the CD Macs. And one dude on a forum saying "it doesn't work" (what does that mean? what has been tested?) doesn't really prove anything.
I'll just take it you don't have a link to a reputable site to back that claim up.
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Originally Posted by Yawn
The Intel spec sheet doesn't say jack about the CD Macs. And one dude on a forum saying "it doesn't work" (what does that mean? what has been tested?) doesn't really prove anything.
I'll just take it you don't have a link to a reputable site to back that claim up.
mduell's post was about the CHIPSET used in Core Duo Macs. Belligerent posts like yours show that you're either not trying to get the point of other people's posts, or you don't bother to read them carefully. Either way looks bad on you.
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Belligerent? LOL
Here's the thing. mduell took a potshot at the Macbook with the 'crippling firmware' comment. I asked him to back that statement up with a trusted source. He hasn't been able to do so. I don't know what you call that, but in my book that's definitely spreading FUD.
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Yawn: What do I need a credible link to prove?
Do you dispute that the Core Duo MacBook uses the 945GM chipset? Take your pick from Google.
Do you dispute that the 945GM chipset supports 4GB RAM (3.mumble due to addressing limitations)? See my previous post.
Do you dispute that the Core Duo MacBook only supports 2GB RAM? Apple, Wikipedia, EveryMac, and OWC all agree with me (and you can find more on Google if you'd like).
(
Last edited by mduell; Oct 8, 2007 at 06:29 PM.
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Originally Posted by Yawn
Belligerent? LOL
Here's the thing. mduell took a potshot at the Macbook with the 'crippling firmware' comment. I asked him to back that statement up with a trusted source. He hasn't been able to do so. I don't know what you call that, but in my book that's definitely spreading FUD.
The video system in the MacBook is electronically capable of more than it is allowed to do. This is done through firmware. Not being allowed to do the job it's capable of is called "crippling" in this context. Firmware is how it's done. How is this a "potshot?" Can you show some evidence that this is not true?
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Originally Posted by mduell
Yawn: What do I need a credible link to prove?
Do you dispute that the Core Duo MacBook uses the 945GM chipset? Take your pick from Google.
Do you dispute that the 945GM chipset supports 4GB RAM (3.mumble due to addressing limitations)? See my previous post.
Do you dispute that the Core Duo MacBook only supports 2GB RAM? Apple, Wikipedia, EveryMac, and OWC all agree with me (and you can find more on Google if you'd like).
mduell = gets my support...
anyway.. my question is regarding my mbp c2d 2.16... I have 1gb (1x1gb right??) and i just bought a 2gb stick (1x2gb) from crucial today, expecting it tomorrow. taking my configuration from 1gb in ONE slot....to.... 3gb in 2 slots (1x1gb and 1x2gb)
I have read this whole thread and i'm pretty confident it will work, but i was looking for feedback regarding the increases. from what i've gathered, the lower bandwidth will not make much of a difference, what type of extra performance can i have from adding 2g's of RAM??
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Originally Posted by Black_Rain
I have read this whole thread and i'm pretty confident it will work, but i was looking for feedback regarding the increases. from what i've gathered, the lower bandwidth will not make much of a difference, what type of extra performance can i have from adding 2g's of RAM??
GPU-limited benchmarks will show a slight performance decrease due to your unmatched pairs. Anything unrelated to graphics operations will not show any noticeable change.
OTOH if you are experiencing page-outs with 1GB of RAM and those page-outs stop with 3 GB you will experience a significant performance increase because paging out from RAM to HDD is a very slow process compared to accessing data in RAM. You might have noticed i/o wait (rainbow cursor) when your system had to page out. If you experienced such lag previously you should see an improvement once you have 3 GB.
In short: if 1 or 2 GB RAM is absolutely enough, there's no advantage in going to 3 GB. However, if you experience page-outs with matched pairs at 2 GB, there's no reason not to extend your RAM capacity even if it means unmatched pairs. The seconds you save from not paging out to disk will by far outweigh the <10% performance decrease in certain graphics tasks.
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^^^ Thanks Simon...
I'll have to really wait and see how it reacts to the new RAM
What should I expect when I first start it up after the RAM is installed? Any problems to be aware of? Does it automatically notice new/more RAM?
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Originally Posted by Black_Rain
What should I expect when I first start it up after the RAM is installed? Any problems to be aware of? Does it automatically notice new/more RAM?
Yes, it will notice the RAM automatically - there's nothing the user needs to do (apart form installing it correctly of course).
To be sure everything is installed and recognized properly check /Applications/Utilities/System Profiler > Hardware > Memory.
Have fun.
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i bought a PB G4 1.25 for my wife. It's got the standard 512 (2x256) memory config. It's OK for her, but a pain for me to use. I want to take it to at least a GB so that I can install Leopard on it. I found out that it uses DDR 2700 RAM. So i was going to buy a 1GB DIM and keep one of the existing 256 DIMs for a total of 1.25GB.
I was just going to get this fCrucial 1gb DIM rom Newegg (I use them for everything).
Newegg.com - Crucial 1GB 200-Pin DDR SO-DIMM DDR 333 (PC 2700) Notebook Memory - Retail
Will this setup work? If so, does it matter which slot the 1gb DIM goes in (top or bottom?)
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by hfaze
Will this setup work? If so, does it matter which slot the 1gb DIM goes in (top or bottom?)!
Yes, it will work.
According to this Apple page your machine supports up to 2 GB. It doesn't matter which slot you use.
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